Photography Article Form and Volume: elements of visual design, part 3|Photography Artist Statement

This month'sBoost Your Photography: 52 Weeks Challenge is focusing in on the basic elements of composition: line, shape, form or volume, texture, and color. This week your challenge is to pay attention to form and volume. See how thinking about form can help you grow in your photography. (Click here to read part 1, The Line or part 2, Shape.)

Form and Volume

Each week in our study of visual design we have added a dimension: starting with one (the line) and then two (shape). This week we will add the third dimension (known as form or volume). Yet the photograph itself is still a two-dimensional representation. The keys to emphasizing form and volume in photography is through deliberate use of light and perspective.

The direction of your light is critical in determining the advent of form and quantity. The perfect lights for emphasizing the form and extent of your situation is directional aspect lights. When mild is coming from a unmarried path off to the side of your camera and situation, the interplay between light and shadow lets in the viewer to better recognize all 3 dimensions.

For the self-portrait above, I used a unmarried desk light for illumination. To restrict the light from spreading out and illuminating any of the background, I made my very own "snoot" by wrapping a cone of black paper across the mild. The light was located perpendicular to the digital camera course and off to my left. This creates the sturdy shadows throughout the hand and face that draw your eye to the three-dimensional form of the face.

Form and Volume: attempt it

The best way to really see and understand the connection between light and form is to experiment for yourself. Choose a simple subject with a noticeably three-dimensional form (for the example below, I used a lamp base). Find a clear and uncluttered spot to shoot, so you can focus on your subject. (You can use atri-fold board for a simple background, if you wish.) Shoot in a dark room or at night so that you can control the light. To make it easier on yourself, consider shooting with a tripod and remote, so that you can leave your camera and focus set.

Grab a small light source, like a slender-beam flashlight or a desk lamp. Wrap some black paper as around your light supply so you have a slender beam of light. Turn off any other lights within the room. Stand behind your digicam, shine the mild on your concern, and take a image (front-lighting). Then move the light around to one facet and take a image (aspect-lighting fixtures). Finally, move the mild around in order that it's far behind your concern and take a photograph (again-lighting fixtures).

Try also transferring the mild up and down in those specific positions. How does your challenge alternate? How do the changes within the shadows and mild direction have an effect on how your eye sees the shape and extent of your problem?

If you are having hassle seeing and taking pictures while shifting the light yourself, bear in mind looking this video demonstration. His focus is on studying to peer and understand mild, however you may also truely watch the egg as the mild moves round it and consider how your belief of the egg's form and extent modifications.

How Will You Use Form and Volume?

Consider sharing your experiment shots with form and volume this week. Or, put your learning into practice and seek out a situation where your photograph emphasizes the form and volume of your subject. Share a link or a photograph in the comments below, or consider joining the BYP 52 Weeks Google+ Community to share your weekly photograph and see what others are capturing.

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